Clinton recruiting her backers to help Obama

September 19, 2008 6:48:16 PM PDT

By BETH FOUHY

MINNEAPOLIS - September 19, 2008 - --

Hillary Rodham Clinton stepped up her efforts Friday to swing her supporters behind Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, her former rival for the nomination. In an outreach dubbed "Hillary Sent Me," the New York senator invited her primary-season partisans to get involved directly in Obama's campaign and to donate to it. As part of that, she urged them to travel to a specific battleground state each weekend, beginning with New Hampshire on Sept. 27, when she will be campaigning for Obama in Michigan.

"Today I am asking all of you to stand up with me, to hit the road and spread the word that we must elect Barack Obama president and send a Democratic, filibuster-proof majority to Congress," Clinton told supporters in a conference call Friday. "This is a call to action, a must-do. We all have a role. And there is not a moment to lose."

Clinton said the outreach "continues the historic journey that you have made with me."

"I like to tell people this is a twofer," said former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, who is challenging Republican John Sununu for his Senate seat in that state and also took part in the call. "You can come up. You work in the presidential race, you can work in the Senate race."

The effort was organized with the Obama campaign and state Democratic parties nationwide. Its goal: to engage the former first lady's donors and voters - many of whom are still sore over her loss to Obama in the epic primary contest - to put that firmly behind them and help in battleground states.

The New York senator has already campaigned for Obama in Ohio, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico and raised more than $5 million for his campaign. "Hillary Sent Me" is her first explicit pitch to her grass roots supporters to get involved, Clinton aides said.